Could This be the Key to Your Good Health?

As you age, you realize that the older you get, the closer you become to life’s finish on earth. Wouldn’t you love to spend your time here on earth with a better attitude and more happiness? All work and little play throw your body out of balance. It also makes you dull. While age is just a number, if you act ancient and fill your mind with old thoughts, you’re not growing in the right direction.

Stop talking yourself into feeling old. As you age, you may have the typical aches and pains that come with the growing number of years. But you can break through the ageist stigmas by focusing on the things that keep you happy and healthy. You’ll also find when you adopt more positive habits, life can be more simplistic and rewarding. Below are tips on how to laugh out loud more!

Laughter is the best medicine prescribed to enjoying life. It’s also the most natural emotion to staying happy and healthy. You can stay cheerful by laughing every day. When you see the good in life, you may even see your chronic pain disappear. Laughter is also an excellent treatment to heal the mind and body. So go on, get your joy back by laughing more. If your job has got you down, you’re over burdened with family obligations, and you’re feeling stressed, the above mentioned 14-day series will help you get back on track.

One of the best emotions in the world is a penetrating belly laugh that shakes every muscle in your body. Laughter can also bring everyone together to form strong bonds. It also does a body good by helping it to feel stronger, younger and fresher. But there’s a science to the natural healing powers of laughter. It’s also an excellent immune booster for the body.

The Benefits of Laughter on the Body’s Immune System

According to a recent article published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, side-splitting giggles may reduce stress levels. Laughter has also been shown to boost cells that are known for killing cancer cells.

There are a number of contributing factors to daily stress that include work, family commitments and bills. People with health illnesses such as cancer often experience a boost in their stress levels, especially after a diagnosis. The elevated stress levels may follow you into your treatment and beyond. Unfortunately, based on certain studies, stress can impact your health negatively. Different studies have found that a weakened immune system can decrease a person’s resistance to illnesses and diseases. It may also increase the likelihood of death in patients who are trying to deal with cancer.

Treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation prove beneficial in combating cancer cells. But other therapies to relieve stress and boost the body’s immune response are being researched. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a practice different from standard medical treatments. Techniques such as Tai chi, massage, music therapy, meditation and acupuncture are addressed to reduce stress. Laughter is another important mind-body intervention that can help alter a person’s mental outlook and improve their body physically.

If you’ve ever laughed at a co-worker’s joke or spent the day with a friend giggling over memories from the past, you know how good your body feels from interacting with this super emotion. A well-known physician who used laughter to treat his patients is Patch Adams. As an advocate for adding laughter and humor to those who are sick in hospitals, the man started what is known as a “silly” hospital located in West Virginia. Because laughter uses important muscles such as the chest, face, neck and stomach, Japan has gotten on the laughter bandwagon by starting laughter yoga clubs.

A rural Midwestern survey using cancer patients found that laughter was the best CAM therapy used. Clinical trials are also being conducted by scientists to measure physical and psychological changes that result from laughter.

Based on the Indiana State University Sycamore Nursing Center research, 33 adult women in the healthy category were separated into two sections. One of the groups being treated watched funny videos. The control section viewed a video based on tourism. The active study members completed a stress and humor level questionnaire after their viewership. They also submitted a blood draw both before and after watching the videos. This test was conducted to assess the levels of the groups natural killer cells.

The group in the humorous section noted a significant reduction in stress following their CAM treatment over the members in the controlled division. Their stress levels were noted to have stemmed from their merriment. High scoring participants on the questionnaire also had high levels of natural killer cells after the laughter CAM treatment than those in the control group.

You can bring more laughter into your laugh with the following:

Stop taking life so seriously and begin to laugh at yourself. While you may find fault with some of your shortcomings, your behavior can be quite humorous at times.

Inject humor into conversations when appropriate

Watch more comedic movies and T.V. shows

Find a friend to take to a funny movie or play

Spend time with your children or pets and act silly

Read the comic section of the newspaper

The benefits of laughter are far reaching. In addition to helping improve your mental outlook, finding reasons to giggle throughout the day can also improve your immune system and reduce your stress levels.